Who’s In And Who’s Out?
Championship Saturday in college football typically produces memorable matchups and moments and yesterday’s slate of games didn’t disappoint.
While Dabo Sweeney and No. 2 Clemson rolled as expected over a five-loss Pittsburgh team, elsewhere, we got a healthy dose of drama elsewhere from teams currently in the Top six of the College Football Playoff Rankings.
Let’s dive in to each of those games and what they mean.
Alabama Secures Spot, But Did Georgia’s Performance Prove They Belong Too?
Untested for much of this season, the college football world saw the Alabama Crimson Tide pushed to its limits in a fast-paced, hard-hitting affair with their SEC rivals Georgia Bulldogs in what turned into Deja Vu for Kirby Smart’s team.
Off the bench and in the game for Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts — who was replaced by Tagovailoa in the second half of last year’s National Championship Game vs Georgia — led the Crimson Tide to a dramatic 35-28 comeback victory over Georgia to win the SEC Championship.
Hurts threw for a touchdown and scored on a 15-yard run with a little over a minute left to play to give Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide a 35-28 lead.
The former starting quarterback replaced Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter after a lineman stepped on his injured ankle.
Georgia held a 21-7 and 28-14 lead in this game, as they stroked fast and early, with Jake Fromm leading the charge.
The offense fizzled, however, in the fourth quarter vs. arguably the best defense in the country, and for a second straight year the College Football committee has a tough choice to make.
Georgia outplayed the consensus favorite to win it all in Alabama for much of the SEC Championship Game, and because of that Kirby Smart believes his team — which entered No. 4 — should maintain its spot.
The question is, how can you justify that beyond Saturday’s game?
A two-loss team making the Playoff would seem to put the system into question, and that just doesn’t seem like something a system keeping UCF from the top six can afford to do.
Oklahoma and Ohio State Win, But Who’s In?
Oklahoma and Ohio State were both victorious in their conference title games on Saturday, as Heisman hopefuls Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins led their teams to comfortable double-digit victories over their opponents.
The Oklahoma Sooners avenged a early season loss to Texas with a 39-27 victory at AT&T Stadium while the Ohio State Buckeyes fended off Northwestern’s surprising second half rally to cruise to a 45-24 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Oklahoma entered the game No. 5 while Ohio State’s 62-39 drubbing of Michigan last Saturday in Columbus saw them jump from No. 10 to No. 6.
While Urban Meyer’s football team has its claim to a potential Playoff spot, their lone loss — a 49-20 beatdown vs. the Purdue Boilermakers — clouds their chances because of how badly it was to a team that finished 6-6 on the season.
Lincoln Riley’s team, with Georgia’s loss, should secure that fourth and final spot to join Alabama, Clemson, and Notre Dame for next month’s College Football Playoff.
What are your takeaways from Championship Sunday? Leave your comments below!